:invalid

The :invalid CSS pseudo-class selects any <input> or <form> element whose content fails to validate according to the input's attribute settings. This allows you to easily have invalid fields adopt an appearance that helps the user identify and correct errors.

/* Selects any input element, but only if its current value is invalid */
input:invalid {
  background-color: #ffdddd;
}

Syntax

:invalid

Example

This example presents a simple form that colors elements green when they validate and red when they don't.

HTML

<form>
  <label for="url_input">Enter a URL:</label>
  <input type="url" id="url_input" />
  <br />
  <br />
  <label for="email_input">Enter an email address:</label>
  <input type="email" id="email_input" required/>
</form>

CSS

input:invalid {
  background-color: #ffdddd;
}

form:invalid {
  border: 5px solid #ffdddd;
}

input:valid {
  background-color: #ddffdd;
}

form:valid {
  border: 5px solid #ddffdd;
}
  
input:required {
  border-color: #800000;
  border-width: 3px;
}

input:required:invalid {
  border-color: #C00000;
}

Notes

Radio buttons

If any of the radio buttons in a group (that is, with the same value for their name attribute) is required, the :invalid pseudo-class is applied to all of them if none of the buttons in the group are selected.

Gecko defaults

By default, Gecko does not apply a style to the :invalid pseudo-class. However, it does apply a style (a red "glow" using the box-shadow property) to the :-moz-ui-invalid pseudo-class, which applies in a subset of cases for :invalid.

You can disable the glow using the following CSS, or completely override it to alter the appearance of invalid fields.

:invalid {
  box-shadow: none;
}

:-moz-submit-invalid {
  box-shadow: none;
}

:-moz-ui-invalid {
  box-shadow: none;
}

Specifications

Browser compatibility

See also

• :valid
• :-moz-submit-invalid
• :required
• :optional